A Champion of the Church by William Reany, DD

A CHAMPION OF THE CHURCH The Life of St. Peter Canisius, SJ By: William Reany D.D. Softcover - 250pp

For three centuries, Canisius was regarded as the master of the Catholics of Germany and in the vernacular knowing Canisius and keeping the Christian truth were synonymous propositions. Pope Leo XIII

Among the Doctors of the Church, one of the least known in spite of his importance for Catholic life today, is Peter Canisius, one of the first Jesuits.

Canisius lived in an age of upheaval, confusion, wide distrust of the hierarchy, and warfare between Christian princes. Through his learning, holiness, and zeal, he, more than anyone else, preserved the Catholic faith in Germany and Switzerland. His voluminous writings, though nearly unknown today, would take up numerous shelves, his catechisms have been praised by Popes for centuries. This is the story, of an ordinary man called upon by God to work among the great men of his age, such as Philip Neri, Ignatius of Loyola, Charles Borromeo, Pius V, Francis de Sales, and countless others. The power of Reanys biography is that it is simple to read while at the same time interesting and enlightening.